Decorticating machine and process



Aug. 28, 1962 Filed May 18, 1959 E. ALMASSY DECORTICATING MACHINE AND PROCESS 7 Sheets-Sheet l E LE K ALJH A55 lnvenlor By i z A Item e y Aug. 28, 1962 Filed May 18, 1959 E. ALMASSY DECORTICATING MACHINE AND PROCESS 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor A ttorne y Aug. 28, 1962 E. ALMASSY 3,050,788

DECORTICATING MACHINE AND PROCESS Filed May 18, 1959 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 sa/P A i ELEK ALHAS Y In ventor Attorney Aug. 28, 1962 E. ALMASSY 3,050,788

DECORTICATING MACHINE AND PROCESS Filed May 18, 1959 '7 Sheets-Sheet 4 ETLEK ALM ASSY In ventor Attorney B; w w

Aug. 28, 1962 E. ALMASSY- 3,050,788

DECORTICATING MACHINE AND PROCESS Filed May 18, 1959 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 'ELEK AmnssY Inventor B IQ Attorney Aug. 28, 1962 E. ALMASSY DECORTICATING MACHINE AND PROCESS 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed May 18, 1959 ELEK ALHASS 1,

Fig. 77

[(ziJentor y z Attorney Aug. 28, 1962 E. ALMASSY DECORTICATING MACHINE AND PROCESS 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed May 18, 1959 OJ 1 m E- O 2 H F Elal: A MA INVENTOR.

llnitecl htates li ate- The present invention relates to a new or improved process and machine for the decortication of fibre-bearing materials, in particular pineapple and similar leaves and sisal.

Many attempts have been made to decorticate pineapple leaves in order to obtain a good quality fibre for sackcloth, and for other purposes. However, such attempts have so far not been very successful or satisfactory. The object of the present invention is the provision of a process and machine which will produce good quality fibres from pineapple and similar leaves in good yields and at low cost. In particular it is intended to provide a machine which fulfills the requirements, which is simple to manufacture and to maintain and which is suitable for use directly on the pineapple or like fields.

By the provision of the process and machine it is hoped to make pineapple farming a more economic proposition than hitherto, since there is a large demand for fibres which attain good prices and since those parts of the leaves which are valuable as fertilisers are obtained as a byproduct in a form in which they may far more efiectively be applied to the soil than if the whole leaves were ploughed in. In addition the juice from the pineapple eaves may be collected which has lately become a valuable raw material, e.g. for pharmaceutical preparations.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a process and machine which, with minor modifications, is particularly suitable for the decortication of sisal.

Further objects, advantages and applications of the invention will become apparent from the following description.

The process in accordance with the invention comprises subjecting leaves of a type in which fibres are embedded in a juicy substance to pressure by which the juice is at least partly pressed out and the skin of the leaves is at least partly crushed and applying friction to both sides of the leaves, by which the crushed pulp and skin of the leaves is rubbed loose from the fibres, the friction being applied by moving the leaves and at least one smooth and hard surface against one another with pressure. Normally, the friction results from the passage of the leaves between at least one pair of coacting rollers, the component rollers of each pair having difierent peripheral velocities from one another in opposite senses, and the surfaces of the rollers being hard and substantially smooth.

The leaves of'the said fibre-bearing leaves normally have a concave and a convex side, and it is advantageous to pass the leaves through the machine in such a manner that the originally concave side of the leaves is acted on by the faster of the two decorticating rollers of a pair.

For carrying out the process, a new or improved decorticating machine has been constructed which comprises at least one pair of coacting hard and smooth rollers adapted to pass the material to be decorticated there etween, the coasting rollers of any one pair being adapted to turn in an opposite sense with substantially different tangential velocities. From the following more detailed description of the machine many further details of the process follow naturally and do not require separate description.

The preferred embodiment of the machine comprises a iifi hfid Patented Aug. 28, 1962 ice single pair of the said coacting decorticating rollers rotating with different tangential velocities. The decorticating rollers are preferably made of cast iron, machined to give them a smooth finish. Both 'decorticating rollers of a pair may have equal or substantially equal diameters.

The ratio of tangential velocities of the coacting rollers of a pair of rollers may, for example, be in the range 1:1.5 to 1:3.5, preferably 111.7 to 122.5, say approximately 1:2. in the preferred embodiment of the machine the normal operating speed is such that the tangential velocity of the slower roller of any pair of decorticating rollers is in the range of 30220 ft./min., preferably in the range of l00200 ft./min., say about 180 ft./min.

Machines have been made in accordance with the invention through which the material passes vertically. However, the preferred machine is adapted to an approximately horizontal passage of the material to be decorticated through the machine. Accordingly the decorticating rollers in a pair are arranged vertically one above the other. The faster roller of the two is preferably the lower one.

Normally the machine also comprises a pair of feed rollers immediately before the decorticating rollers on the feed side of the machine. The feed rollers are preferably of a substantially smaller diameter than the decorticating rollers. They are normally adapted to have a lower peripheral velocity than the slower one of the two decorticating rollers. The material being decorticated is thereby retarded during its passage between the decortieating rollers. At least one of the feed rollers is normally fluted.

The decorticating rollers and/ or the feed rollers may be adapted to be adjusted to the required distances from one another to give the best results under any particular conditions, e.g. by means of adjustable hand-operated pressure screws or similar means. It has, in accordance with the invention, usually been found to be advantageous to provide no spring-loading of the rollers. The spacing of the various rollers may, however, also be adjustable by means of adjustable eccentric bearing housings.

The various rollers of the machine may be geared to one another, e.g. by direct gear drives and/ or by gear and chain drives.

The machine preferably comprises a conveyor to remove the =decorticated material from the machine. The conveyor is preferably perforated or grid-like in order to allow the juice to drain from the decorticated material. In a preferred embodiment this conveyor is horizontal and at approximately the same level as the gap between the decorticating rollers.

Spring-loaded scraper blades, throwing rollers or similar means may be provided to keep the decorticating rollers clean and/ or to prevent the material from dropping between the rollers and the said conveyor.

On the feed side of the machine a conveyor is preferably provided to carry the material to the feed rollers. This conveyor of rubber, nylon or other suitable belt mate rial is preferably approximately horizontal. In the preferred embodiment, a second conveyor is provided above the first-mentioned conveyor in such a manner that the material will be firmly held while being fed between the two conveyors.

A trough or the like is preferably provided to collect I the juice of the decorticated leaves or the like.

The preferred embodiment of the machine is so dimensioned that it is suitable as a field unit.

For improved performance and high output, the decorticating machine comprises at least one pair of fluted or milled crushing rollers preceding the feed rollers to the actual decorticating rollers.

'in FIG. along line VII-V11;

.FIG. 5;

A preferred machine for the decortication of pineapple and similar leaves comprises a single pair of the said fluted or milled crushing rollers. On the other hand, the preferred machine for the decortication of sisal comprises 7 several pairs of fluted crushing rollers in succession, e.g. three pairs of crushing rollers. Preferably the spacing apartof the crushing rollers decreases from the feed side to the output side, for example, the spacing apart of the rollers of the first-pair may be'approximately 1 inch, that .of thesecond pair approximately /8 inch and that of the third pair such that the teeth of the rollers engage.

Preferably, the crushing rollers precede the feed conveyor system to the feed rollers. This feed conveyor system preferably comprises two superimposed conveyor belts adapted for the. passage of the material between the two belts.

According to the preferred embodiment, the crushing rollers form part of a detachable sub-unit to the main machine, This has the advantage that the machine may be more easily transported and that the same main machine .may be used for decorticating pineapple leaves or sisal depending on which sub-unit is used in conjunction therewith. Such a sub-unit may comprise a supporting structure adapted to be set up adjoining the feed end of the main decorticating machine and one or more pairs of crushing rollers. 'In addition, a conveyor is preferably provided on the outlet side of the crushing roller to transport the crushed material into the feed system of the main machine. On the inlet side to the crushing rollers, a further conveyor may be provided to transport the fibrebearing material to the crushing rollers. The sub-unit is preferably driven by the main machine. Also in accordance with the invention an extension unit for the output conveyor may be provided similar to the preferred form of sub-unit on the feed side of the machine. This extension unit comprises a supporting structure adapted to be set up behind the output conveyor of the main machine and carrying a conveyor belt which is preferably driven off the main machine. The conveyor belt is preferably perforated or grid-like.

The invention and the manner in which it may be put into'practice will'be further described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings: FIG. 1 represents a vertical section through the main decorticating machine in accordance with the invention along a plane passing longitudinally through the centre of the main machine;

. FIG. 2 represents a plan view of the main machine; FIG. 3 represents an end elevation of the main machine from the feed side;

FIG. 4 represents a side elevation of the gear box frame with cover removed on the left-hand side of the machine in FIG. 3; 3 FIG. 5 represents a similar view of the right-hand side of the machine in FIG. 3;

gear box on the FIG. 6 represents a section through the gear box shown r in FIG. 4 alongrline vr vr;

. FIG. 7 represents a sectional view of the gear box shown FIG. 8 represents a detailed section through the eccentric bearing housing of the top' feed roller on the side of FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 shows a similar view of the eccentric bearing housing of the top decorticating roller;

FIG. 12 represents a plan view of the sub-unit shown in 'FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 represents a side elevation of one of the jockey sprockets for tensioning the duplex chain driving the subunit from the main machine; 7

FIG. 14 represents an extension unit for use on the 7 output side of the main machine; and

FIG. represents a detailed plan view of the extension unit;

FIG. 17 represents 'a similar. view to FIG. 16 with thrower rollers;

FIG. 18 represents a longitudinal section through the 7 portion containing thecrushing rollers of a sub-unit to the main machine, similar tothat showninFIGS. 10-12, but adapted, more particularly, for the decortication of sisal;

FIG. 19 represents an enlarged -view of the feed rollers 15 and 16 in FIG. 1, illustrating the fluting of roller 16; and

FIG. represents a transverse section through the axis of any one of the rollers shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, illustrating the. eccentric mounting of the rollers in elevation.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3 of the drawings, the main machine comprises a stand 1 supporting a central casing 2, a feed conveyor system 3; with side protection plates 4-,

an output conveyor system 5' with side protection plates 6 and a drive shaft 7 with face pulley 8 for connecting the machine to a tractor or. other prime mover. V

The central casing of the main machine 2 comprises two strong side plates of steel 9', gear boxes 10 and 11 which are shown in greater detail inFIGS. 4, 6 and '5, 7

respectively, and spacer bolts 12 which trap the gear 7 cases to ensure precision alignment and free'them from distortion. Supported by and driven from the gear casings 10 and 11 are the upper and lower decorticating rollers 13 and 14 which are cast iron cylinders, the walls of which are inch thick and the outer surfaces of which have been machined to give them a smooth finish. Their outside diameter in the present example is 6.4 inches. 7

On the feed side of the decorticatingrollers a pair of feed rollers 15 and 16 is provided, the lower one 16 of which is fluted (see FIG. 19). The feed rollers simultaneously act as breaker rollers. Immediately preceding the feed rollers are the driving pulleys 17 and 18 of the upper and lower conveyors '19. and 20 respectively (deleted for clarity in FIGS. 2 and 3), of the feed conveyor system- 3. The idler rollers of the belt conveyors 19 and 20 are represented by 21 and 22 respectively. 23 represents the lower guard of the lower conveyor. Between the lower drive pulley and the feed roller 16', a bafiie 24 is provided which prevents the fibre-bearing material from falling down between the feed roller systems. side of the decorticating rollers drive pulleys25 are provided which drive the conveyor 26 over idler pulleys 27.

Again the conveyor 26 is not shown in FIG. 2. t

On the output side, spring-loaded upper and lower Scrapers 28 and 29 respectively are provided bearing" against the peripheries of the upper and lower decorticating rollersrespectively. The scraper blades may,-for example, be made of rubber. The lower scraper blade 29 I is so constructed that it bridgesthe gap between the lower decorticating roller 14 and the drive pulley 25 so that no material will fall downbetween the and the output conveyor.

0n the drive shaft 7 opposite the face pulley 8 a duplex sprocket 30 is provided which drives the shaft of the bottom decorticating roller 14 by means of a duplex chain 31. From the shaft of the decorticating roller 14, all other parts'of. the machine are driven as will be explained more fully further "below.

The broken lines on the left-hand sideof FIGS. 1'and'2 indicate the position of the output end of thesub-unit to the main machine for precrushing the material to be over the pulley shaft 34 0f the sub-unit.

Similarly the broken lines on the right-hand side in.

the decorticatingrollers a On the output decorticating roller .FIGS. 1 and 2 indicate the position of the delivery extension unit. This is driven from a pulley 35 on the shaft of the idler pulleys 27 by means of a duplex chain 36.

The extension unit is connected to the main machine by connecting members 37.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 4 to 10, the gear casings and 11 which are oil-filled are completely weatherproof and are provided as an added precaution, with neoprene bearing and shaft seals 38. As stated before, the whole machine is driven from shaft 7 via sprocket 30 and duplex chain 31. Duplex chain 31 drives a sprocket 39 mounted on the end of the shaft 40 of the bottom decorticating roller 14-. Decorticating rollers 14 and 13 are interconnected by gear wheels 41 and 4111 respectively having eighteen and thirty-six teeth respectively. How the various rollers are interconnected becomes obvious by comparing FIGS. 4 to 10. In FIGS. 4 and 5 the bearing housings of the shafts of rollers or pulleys 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 25 are represented by 13a, 14a, 15a, 16a, 17a, 13a and 25a in the case of gear box 10 (FIG. 4) and by 13b, 14b, 15b, 16b, 17b, 18b and 25b in the case of gear box 11. Adjoining pairs of rollers or pulleys are interconnected by idlers in gear box 11. The bearings of the idlers are indicated in FIG. 5 by 42, 43 and 44.

The shaft of the lower feed conveyor pulley 18 also carries a sprocket 45 which drives duplex chain 46 over a corresponding sprocket on the shaft of pulley 22.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 8 to 10 and 20, the top decorticating roller and the top feed roller are mounted in an adjustable manner. For this purpose, the respective shafts of the rollers are supported each and on both sides in ball bearings 47. Instead of being mounted in the wall of the casings 10 and 11 direct, the ball bearings 4-7 are contained in flanged bushes 48. The diameters of the flanged bushes48 are machined eccentric to the ball race landings as shown in FIG. in which the central axis of the bearing 47 is indicated by 47a, whereas the central axis of flanged bush 48 is indicated by 48a. A lever (not shown) is fitted to the flanged bushes 48 whereby the latter may be turned and whereby the rollers are displaced from the true centre line in a controlled manner.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 11 to 13 of the drawings, the pre-crushing sub-unit in accordance with the invention comprises a supporting structure 49 carrying a pair of milled crushing rollers 50, a conveyor belt 51 on the feed side of the crushing rollers and another conveyor belt 52 on the delivery side of the crushing rollers and leading to the feed conveyor system of the main machine. The pulley shaft 34 of the conveyor 52 is driven from sprockets 32 of the main machine by a chain 33 as described above. On the opposite end of the shaft, a sprocket 53 is provided from which a duplex chain 54 leads to a sprocket 55 on the opposite pulley shaft 56 of the conveyor 52. Again shaft 56 is provided with another sprocket 57 which drives a sprocket 53 by means of a duplex chain 59, the sprocket 58 being mounted on the shaft of the lower crushing roller of the pair of crushing rollers 56. The upper crushing roller idles with the lower crushing roller or alternatively the two crushing rollers are interconnected by gears (not shown). A second sprocket 60 is mounted on the shaft of the lower crushing roller to drive the shaft 61 of the feed conveyor 51 via a duplex chain 62 and a sprocket 63.

The long duplex chain 54 is tensioned by means of jockey sprockets 64 provided at suitable intervals.

With reference to FIG. 18, the single pair of crushing rollers 50 has been replaced by three pairs of milled crushing rollers 50a, 59b, 56c. For the sake of simplicity, only the teeth on parts of the peripheries of rollers 560 are shown in the drawings, but it should be understood that the rollers are provided with teeth all round.- Crushing rollers 50a are set approximately one inch apart, crushing rollers 50!) are spaced approximately /8 inch apart and crushing rollers 50c are spaced so closely that the teeth of the rollers just engage. As before, shafts 56 and 61 represent the pulley shafts of the two conveyors on either side of the crusher roller system. As in the previous case, the lower roller 50c is driven by a chain and sprocket system from shaft 56. The lower rollers 590, 5%, Silo are all interconnected by chain drives and, shaft 61 is driven from roller 50a also by a chain drive. The lower and upper rollers 57 are interconnected by a pair of gears, and the upper rollers 50c, 50b, and 50a are interconnected by chain drives.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 14 and 15, the extension unit comprises a stand 65a and a grid-like conveyor belt 65 composed of two lateral belts 66 and trans verse slats 67 connected to the lateral belts 66 by copper rivets 63. If desired or required, any number of extension units may be joined end to end to result in a conveyor belt of any desired length.

Referring to FIG. 16, the scrapers 28 and 29 each comprise lever arms 69 tensioned by tension springs 70' and scraper arms 71 with scraper blades 72 of rubber bearing against the periphery of the decoiticating rollers 13 and 14 respectively. Scrapers 28 and 29 pivot around pinions 73. Scraper 29 is, in addition, provided with a baffle 74 which bridges the gap between roller 14 and the conveyor 26 and prevents material from falling down.

Referring particularly to FIG. 17, the scraper 29 is replaced by a throwing roller 75 comprising four throwing blades 76 which is mounted in the gap between roller 13 the conveyor 26 in such a manner that the blades 76 almost touch the periphery of the decorticating roller 13.

In use, fresh pineapple leaves (or sisal leaves if the embodiment of FIG. 18 is employed) are laid tips first onto the moving feed conveyor of the crushing sub-unit of the machine. Since the originally concave side of the leaves should preferably be acted upon by the faster roller of the pair of decorticating rollers (ie the bottom roller,) the leaves are placed on the conveyor 51 with the concave side facing downwards.

The leaves are then carried through the milled crushing rollers 50 where the structure is broken up to a certain extent. Conveyor 52 then carries the material to the feed conveyor system 3 of the main machine, where the material first passes between conveyors 19 and 2t) and over the baffile 24 through the pair of feed rollers 15 and 16. From the feed rollers the material is picked up by the decorticating rollers 13- and 14 which both have higher peripheral velocities than the feed rollers, the lower one rotating twice as fast as the upper roller. Accordingly, the material is retarded to a certain extent by the feed rollers during its passage through the decor-ticating rollers. Apart from that, the feed rollers also help to further crush the leaves. By the action of the decorticating rollers, the pulp and skin of the leaves is finally rubbed ofi the fibres.

From the decorticating rollers the material passes onto conveyor 26 and from there onto the conveyor 65 of the extension unit. The fibres are picked up manually from the conveyor 65, shaken to remove pulp and spread out to dry.

Preferably the material is processed as soon as possible after being collected from the plants ie in as fresh a condition as possible. This has an important influence on the yield of fibres.

What I claim is:

1. A decorticating process which comprises subjecting leaves of a type in which fibres are embedded in a juicy substance to pressure by which the juice is at least partly pressed out and the skin of the leaves is at least partly crushed and applying friction and pressure to both sides of the leaves, by which the crushed pulp and skin of the leaves is rubbed loose and separated from the fibres, in which process the friction and pressure result from passing the leaves between two hard and smooth substantially unyielding surfaces, by maintaining said surfaces conclosest proximity of the said surfaces and at .thesame .time moving said surfaces relative to one another at :s-tantly spaced and parallel at least at the locality of 1 speeds different from one another ina direction parallel.

to the. direction ofpassageof the leaf at the said locality of closest proximity, said spacing at the locality of closest proximity and at the time of movement being small in comparison with the normal cross-section of the leaves.

decorticating process as claimed in claim 1 in which the actual decortication iseffected to completion by passing the at least partly crushed fibre-bearing leaves only once-between a singlepair of the said smooth and of theleaves is acted on by the faster of the two surfaces,

measured in the direction of passage of-the leaves.

4. A process-for decorticating leaves of a type inwhich fibres are embedded in a juicy substance, which comprises at least partly crushing the skin of the leaves by subjecting the leaves to a pluralityof locally applied compressions, V

' producting local surface displacements in the direction of pressure application of such magnitude that the fibres themselves remain largely unaffected and passing the leaves between two hard and smooth, substantially unyielding conveXly curved surfaces facing one another,

while maintaining a constant clearance, small in comparison with the normal thickness of the leaves, and simultaneously moving the said surfaces at different speeds parallel to the direction of passage of the leaves in the locality of closest proximity between the two surfaces.

5. A decorticating machine suitable, for decortica'ting' sisal, which comprises at least one pair of co-acting hard and smooth rollers, adapted to pass the material to be .decorticated therebetween, the coacting rollers of any one pair being adapted to rotate in opposite senses With substantially different tangential velocities and which machine further comprises several pairs of fluted crushing rollers in succession preceding the actual decorticating part of the machine,-the fluting of the said fluted crushing rollers being shallow in comparison with the cross-section of the leaves to be decorticated, the spacing between the component rollers of successive pairs decreasing from the feed side to'the output side.

6. A decorticating machine suitablefor decorticating' fibre'bearing' leaves in which thefibreisembeddedina juicy substance which comprises at least .one pair of coactingghard and smooth rollers-adapted to pass the material to be decoiticated therebetween, the coactingrollersiof anyone pair being adapted to rotate .in opposite senses .with substantiallydifierent tangentialvelocities, and which machine further comprises as part of.a.detachable.sub.-

unit to the main machine at least onezpairofcrushing .rollers preceding the actual decorticating part of the machine and having a peripheralsurface composed ,of

alternating depressions.and'projecting parts, said surface profiling being shallow. in comparison with the crosssection of the leaves tobe'decorticated, a second sub-unit being provided interchangeable for the first mentioned sub-unit, .the two sub-units comprisingdifferent crushing roller arrangements, thereby rendering the machines'nit able for difierent types of leaves. 7 V

7. A decorticating machine suitable for decorticating fibre bearing leaves in which the fibre is embedded in a juicysubstance which comprises a singlepair of oo acting hard and smooth, substantially unyielding ;roller s adapted to pass the material to be decorticated therebetween, the coacting rollers being adapted to rotate in opposite senses with difierent tangential velocities, the

ratio of tangential velocities being in the .range'of. 1:1 .7

to 1:35 and means for crushing theskin and flesh ofthe leaves preceding the decorticating rollers, the path of th'e material through the decorticating rollers of themachine being substantially horizontal. Y

8..A dec'orticating machine as claimed in .claim 7 in. which subsequent to the crushing means any large gaps between successive pairs of rollers through which the material has'to pass are bridgedsbymechanical bridging means and any remaininggaps are substantially narrower along the lines ofclo'sestapproach of successive lower rollers thanthe radii of the respective rollers.

9. A decorticating machine as claimed in claim 7 which machine comprisesa conveyor system on the feed side of the machine for carrying thematerial to apairof fee'd rollers immediately preceding the decorticating rollers, said-conveyor system comprising two conveyorbelts pro- Videdsubstantially parallel one above the other in such a manner that the material which is 'fed to thefeed rollers between the said two conveyor'belts' in firmly held .therebetween;

' References Oited in the'file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,307,250 Gillis Iunei17,'19l-9 2,356,000 Patterson Aug. 15,1944 2,722,039 McCrae Nov. 1, 1955 2,977,640 Haas et a1 Apr. -4, 1961 

